"Contrary to the claims of some of my critics, I am an ardent believer in the free market," Obama said in prepared remarks.

Obama said his efforts to enact sweeping legislation to overhaul financial regulations and set caps on carbon emissions to fight climate change were not aimed at thwarting businesses.

"We have arrived at a juncture in our politics where reasonable efforts to update our regulations, or make basic investments in our future, are too often greeted with cries of 'government takeover' or even 'socialism'," Obama said.

"Getting this balance right has less to do with big government or small government than it does smart government. It's not about being anti-business or pro-government; it's about being pro-growth and pro-jobs," he said.

We should next expect Al Gore today to step before the microphones and proclaim his support for scientific inquiry, for Nancy Pelosi to announce her love of filibustering and the nuclear option, for Harry Reid to sing the praises of bipartisanship and Jeremiah Wright to reveal his love for Israel.

Would make as much sense and garner as much credibility as Obama's pronouncement.

Forgive me if this comment is a bit off topic, but I feel that the widespread ridiculing of Sarah Palin and her family has gone way too far, and particularly in the instance of one very grotesque and obscene individual. This individual goes by the AOL screen name of lilTrigPalin and e-mail address [email protected] in an attempt to mock and belittle Sarah Palin's beautiful child who happens to have Down Syndrome. This sad, reprehensible person populates AOL chat rooms Life - Bible Fellowship, Life - Bible Fellowship 1, and Life - Beliefs Christian, with screen names lilTrigPalin and HooverMeCheney and is relentless in their dissemination of disgusting, hateful attacks against Sarah and her family. You can report them to AOL terms of service at [email protected] . That is all I have to say. Thank you for your cooperation and understanding.

Obama's only real conviction is in the power of his own voice to persuade people to believe up is down, down is up, the sun rises in the west, and unicorns are going to magically appear and shower us with their golden crap and all our monetary problems will magically disappear.

(Or shower us with something else golden, maybe.)

Sooner or later he's got to notice that the more government control there is, the less responsive the free markets are, right? Surely he can't believe that we can keep borrowing forever to run the government and not pay it back - or does he figure that when the bill comes due he can just skip out on paying for all he's ordered?

"We have arrived at a juncture in our politics where reasonable efforts to update our regulations, or make basic investments in our future, are too often greeted with cries of 'government takeover' or even 'socialism'," - excuse me, but I fail to see how that statement has anything to do with free market economics.

"Getting this balance right has less to do with big government or small government than it does smart government. It's not about being anti-business or pro-government; it's about being pro-growth and pro-jobs," - that statement doesn't even hint at a propensity toward his desiring to have a free market solution to the economies problems. Rather it lumps all possible solutions together, implying them to be of equal value or legitimacy.

I read Obama statement last night. My first reaction was how much of a non sequitur his initial proclamation of belief in the free market system was to the balance of his statement. Sorry, the man's just trying to give himself some cover (must be the MSM isn't doing it as well as he believes they should).

I think this is a sentiment for the 'moderates' in his own party. This gives them a statement to assuage their guilt and a rational to keep clinging to the Democrat religion. All they need is a few crumbs to string them along. ("See, Obama isn't a socialist. He said so.") They really are idiots.

This man will say absolutely anything and expect people to believe it.

Either that, or he simply reads what's on the teleprompter without giving a damn what's there. And that's where I'm getting concerned.
Is Obama for real or are the people behind the scenes pulling the strings, so to speak.

Free Markets do not mean that those who will not work for their own betterment should get everything for free off of the peoples who are willing to contribute to society. It is just a slightly different understanding of "free markets'.

Mr. President, I am an ardent believer that you really don't understand that your actions garner the opposite of what you say you believe.

If just one of our so-called reporters would simply ask him how excessive over-reaching regulation and mandates support the free market (especially in regard to attempts to apply such to the health care or energy sector OR how his suddenly being an "agnostic" on raising taxes for those making under $X a year ....

Oh never mind. It'll never happen. He doesn't have to worry about answering hard questions because no one will ask them. Instead they listen attentively to Robert Gibbs spout lie after lie and run back to their computers to report that everything is "on track" and anything bad that happens is simply "unexpected".

Looks bryanDouche is into the meth again, but it's good to see he realizes that the Jug-Eared Douche is only paying lip service to the people. The only Terror Warrior that JE Douche faces, though, would be (shudder) a frisky Wookiee on the home front...

We should next expect Al Gore today to step before the microphones and proclaim his support for scientific inquiry
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he has. That is why the majority of scientist support him. You see if he didn't support scientific inquiry, people who make their living doing scientific inquiry (that's the scientist) might be a little skeptical of him, instead they rave about him and he get's noble prizes.

You guys are betting off sticking to your scinetist are in it for the money line. that is absurd too, but at least it offers explanation that fits your idelology and explains why scientist overwhelmingly support Gore.